


Affection

by miraculousmidnight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 06:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5324843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousmidnight/pseuds/miraculousmidnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug and Chat Noir had two very different ways of expressing themselves. Adrien knew this, but it still stung a little every time Ladybug laughed off his compliments or rolled her eyes at his names of endearment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affection

_Ladybug and Chat Noir had two very different ways of expressing themselves. Adrien knew this, but it still stung a little every time Ladybug laughed off his compliments or rolled her eyes at his names of endearment._

_Most of the time, girls were falling over themselves to get so much as a glance thrown their way. He’d seen Chloe push a girl to the ground for blocking her view at a photoshoot._

_It wasn’t that he wanted Ladybug to act like that, but…it still bruised his pride a little. And it led to dangerous questions._

_Questions like: Why wasn’t he good enough for Ladybug? Why wasn’t his best ever good enough?_

_What was wrong with him?_

—

“No puns tonight, Chat?” She asked one evening after watching a freshly purified akuma fly off. “You seem very quiet.”

He shrugged. “There wasn’t much for me to do this time, you seemed to have everything under control.” His green eyes grew sly. “ _Purr_ -fectly in control, in fact.” 

She groaned, but couldn’t hide her smile.  

He loved making her smile. 

“I wouldn’t say that,” she replied, “But it is nice not to have to dash off after everything is said and done.” She hadn’t needed her lucky charm and he’d barely done anything but watch, let alone use his cataclysm. 

He grinned, his white teeth bright in the moonlight, and draped an arm around her shoulders. “If you wanted to spend more time with me, all you ever had to do was ask, my lady.”

She easily ducked out of his hold with a short laugh, and began stretching out the tight muscle in her right arm. Swinging around so much had really put a strain on it. 

Normally she wouldn’t notice the slight droop in Chat’s shoulders after he teased her like this. Normally, they’d be moving too fast or be too distracted to spare a moment for anything but the akuma. Normally, Chat was quick to flirt and she was quick with a retort and they’d slip back into the rhythm of battle. 

Tonight was not normal. 

Tonight, she noticed. 

“Chat?” She stopped her stretching and turned to face him directly. “Something’s wrong. Please tell me.” 

Shaking his head, he turned away from her. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Too late, I’m already worried.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned back toward her. She didn’t remove he hand. 

He didn’t know what to say to her. Whenever he tried to put what he was feeling into words, he felt childish and vulnerable - two things he didn’t exactly want Ladybug to think about him.   _Why don’t you like me? Everyone else loves Chat Noir, why can’t you?  Why don’t you, the one who knows me better than any of them, love me?_

Dangerous. 

“It’s really nothing,” he tried again, offering a weak smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

“We’re partners,” she insisted. “It will never be nothing. If something is upsetting you, it’s upsetting me, too.”

He paused. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do!” Now she moved her hand from his shoulder to grasp his hands. Her hands were so much smaller than his and yet he felt like she held his entire being when she wrapped her hands around his. “I care about you. I want you to be happy.”

“You care about me?” 

She hesitated. She’d been about to roll her eyes and tell him “of course!” again, but something in his voice stopped her. Her affection for him had been obvious to her. He made her laugh, and he was a strong, intelligent fighter. She couldn’t imagine being Ladybug without him. 

Maybe it hadn’t been so obvious to him. 

She dropped his hands and reached up to cup his face so he couldn’t avoid her gaze. For a moment, she wished she was taller so she could look him straight in the eyes, but a slight angle would have to do. 

“I almost wish I knew your real name so you knew how sincere I’m being here,” she tried to joke to lighten the mood, but that didn’t seem to be the right thing to say. Something clouded over in his eyes. “But that doesn’t really matter. I don’t need to know your name to know you’re the most loyal cat in existence.” She did a small smile out of that. “I know I need you by my side, and I know I would miss you if you ever went away. I worry about you when I’m not there to help protect you. If that’s not caring about you, then I don’t know what is.” 

He felt warm all over. A bit foolish, but that didn’t matter so much. This warmth was what he’d been looking for. The kind you felt begin in your chest and slowly spread through your veins until it glowed with a steady heat in your fingertips and toes. 

He pulled her hands away from his face and pressed his forehead to hers, never breaking eye contact. Her blue eyes were so clear, he almost thought she could see through the black mask he wore. 

“And I thought I was supposed to be unlucky,” he whispered, his breath brushing against her skin. 

The corners of her lips turned up. “You are. But I have enough luck for the both of us.”  

This time when his shoulders lowered, it was in relief as he enveloped her in a soft hug. Sensing his vulnerability, she let him hold her as long as needed. Just for tonight. 

—

_Adrien was a quick learner, and after that, had no problem spotting her particular brand of affection. It came in the form of comfortable, casual touches, of making sure he took care of himself, of risking her own safety for him without a second thought._

_It was quiet, and hard to miss at times, but that made it more valuable when he did see it, especially when others couldn’t._

_And honestly? He loved her all the more for it._

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for ML Week over on tumblr, so you can see this on my blog there, too. 
> 
> http://miraculousmidnight.tumblr.com/post/133783141232/ml-week-affection


End file.
